Pray tell, how would you rule on prayer before public meetings?

Welcome to Faith & Reason – the question and conversation blog where your participation is critical.

This is just my second F&R post for Religion News Service, now that the blog and I have moved here from USA TODAY. The first post asked whether kid-centric efforts by churches or synagogues led to adult believers. Please keep right on commenting on that question or start in on my new Q., a touchy church-state issue:

Do you wish you were a Supreme Court justice who could on rule on whether prayers before government meetings are “kosher?”

Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court hear arguments on whether government-sanctioned prayer before public meetings is constitutional.

Even if you have no desire to sit on the high court, you probably have a point of view on Greece v. Galloway, the case argued at SCOTUS today. To go by the transcript, even the justices were wary.

At the center of this case is the small New York town of Greece, which begins its meetings with prayers offered by clergy who are almost always, but not exclusively, Christian.

Lauren Markoe at RNS, looking at the briefs saw questions raised by the prayer-and-clergy picks. Is it proselytizing? Is it discriminating against those who belong to minority faiths or identify with no religion?

[tweetable]Does the idea that any government body decides which clergy, which prayers, are suitable – or censored — worry you?[/tweetable]

Your turn!

A quick reminder of how this works: I launch the discussion with an issue in the news that raises questions. (If you know me, you know I never have just one question. And I generally think there’s more than one answer worth consideration.) All views respectfully presented are welcome so bring your brains, your beliefs and your manners.

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RNS columns are direct-published opinion pieces. They are not always edited and reflect the views only of the author.